Creating Army of Darkness - Skull Mountain

This is my version of “The Army of Darkness” in a 3-dimensional diorama. For over 50 years I have been building dioramas and miniatures. This was a complex and challenging piece, which I am very proud of. I started with a fantastic 12” Army of Darkness figure from Sideshow Collectibles, sculpted by Mat Falls, which has great articulated joints. I initially decided to add two skeleton warriors, which I sculpted from scratch, with super details and well-defined weapons. I ended up removing one from the scene because it looked too crowded and I didn’t want the overall look to be too busy. Initially, I had placed the two skeleton warriors on the top of the mountain, looking down menacingly at Ash. I realized the problem with that look was that you could only see a back view of Ash, missing all of his great details; his chainsaw and shotgun. I wanted Ash to be the main focus, so I switched them and put Ash on top of the hill looking down at the skeleton warrior. That is when the diorama came to life.

For this diorama, the details sculpted into this piece must be seen to be fully appreciated. I wanted the overall concept to keep with the theme of the movie; Army of Darkness, with Ash transported back in time to 1300 AD, and adding my imagination while having fun with it. I

wanted the skull mountain to look like a real, ancient, scary grave site, and to have a warlike stone entrance-point with a skull-carved face at the top of the hill. In keeping with the theme of the movie, I wanted the war entrance to look like it was trapped in time, surrounded by evil, with skull spikes symbolizing brutal savagery. Also at the top of the hill entrance, I sculpted two rotted dead trees coming to life when awakened. Also in the caves, on the sides of the mountain, is a giant rodent, and a dead hand reaching out for help.

Overall, this diorama was one of my most challenging dioramas because, as I mentioned, I did not want something too big, and didn't want it to take up too much space, while still having great detail with plenty of imagination. This was a complex design and more work than I anticipated but in the end, I was very pleased with how it came out and I'm glad I took the extra steps for completing my Army of Darkness Skull Mountain.

This piece first debuted at Monsterpalooza, in May 2024, with great previews and appreciation by the attendees. I re-did this piece for Son of Monsterpalooza 2024 for all the fans of Bruce Campbell and The Army of Darkness. I hope you like it!

Joe Trujillo, “The Diorama Guy”